


Room to Grow

by wingsyouburn



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020)
Genre: Awkward Flirting, F/M, Hobbies, OG and Remake Compliant, Pre-Canon, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-13
Updated: 2020-10-13
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:01:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26997151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wingsyouburn/pseuds/wingsyouburn
Summary: Tifa and Barret bond over an unexpected connection.
Relationships: Tifa Lockhart/Barret Wallace
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	Room to Grow

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Barret x Tifa Week over on Tumblr! With the prompt: _Hobbies._

Nothing grew in the slums of Midgar.

Sure, the homes above the plate had lovely gardens, tiny square yards full of green grass. Houses were laid out in a tiny, perfect grid, with their white picket fences. Maybe it helped Shinra’s employees ignore the reality happening around them.

In the chaos beneath the plate, it was a different story. Their roads were often packed dirt instead of fresh pavement. Their homes were made out of plywood and cheap drywall. So many people had lived here for so long, they forgot to remember that it could be different.

There were rumors of a florist in Sector 5, but Tifa had never met them, nor seen their wares for sale in Sector 7. Back in Nibelheim, she remembered window boxes full of herbs and flowers. Artificial sunlight didn’t help the plants grow, but Tifa was determined anyway.

She started with a scrap of a plant in a broken coffee cup. The handle snapped off one night while she cleaned up at Seventh Heaven, but the cup itself was intact. Tifa placed it in her bedroom window and watered it every morning.

At first, the leaves perked up, stretching towards the artificial sun. But it only lasted a day or two. The leaves developed brown spots, but they were soft to the touch, instead of dry and brittle. The soil was always wet, and she checked on it every day.

Tifa didn’t know what to do. Three weeks into her plant experiment, she brought the struggling plant in its cracked cup to Seventh Heaven. Maybe it just needed light at a different time of day. Or maybe one of her patrons might have an unexpected green thumb, though she doubted it.

She forgot about the plant at the end of the counter until Barret arrived halfway through the evening. The big man with a gun for an arm and a hidden heart of gold intimidated most, but Tifa saw him for who he was beneath. The sight of him always had her breath catching in her throat. She looked forward to the nights when he’d stop by to see her. “What’re you got there?” he asked, pointing at the plant.

“Oh, that.” Tifa sighed, wiping her hands on a bar towel. Now some of the leaves were turning yellow and falling off the tiny branches. “I tried to grow a plant. It’s not going very well.”

Barret’s brow furrowed. “Mind if’n I take a look?”

“You know about plants?” It shouldn’t surprise her, given how much Barret talked about the planet and what they needed to do to save it. Stopping Shinra had always been his number one goal. But he always talked about taking the fight to Shinra, not about starting a garden in rebellion.

“Used to have a garden, back in Corel.” He didn’t talk about his time in the mines often, and Tifa didn’t push. “A greenhouse with all sorts of plants. Lots of fruit and veggies we could share.”

One big hand curled around the coffee cup and pulled it over to him. He poked at the soil, examining the leaves.

“Do you ever think about starting a greenhouse here?” Tifa asked, leaning forward on the bar. “We could use that. It’s hard enough to find fresh food down here, much less being able to say we grew it ourselves.”

Barret grunted. “Thought about it. Hard to get the right light, never mind all the supplies. Those Shinra fucks would probably raid it anyway.”

She hadn’t thought of that. “Oh. Yeah.” Her gaze dropped down to the plant. “What do you think is wrong with it?” she asked instead.

“Overwatering,” he said. “Let me guess, you giving this guy water every day?”

“Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do with plants?”

He shook his head. “Not all of ‘em. This little guy’s a succulent. You could ignore it for a week or more and it would be just fine.”

“I’ve never known a plant that didn’t need water.” Tifa reached for the cup, her fingers brushing over Barret’s. He didn’t pull away, meeting her eyes. Even behind his sunglasses, she could feel the weight of his gaze on her. Tifa licked at her lips.

“Water once a week,” he said. He pulled back, but then he laid his hand over hers, curling her fingers around the mug. “And I’ll bring you another cutting, if I can find one. Your plant needs a friend.”

_Maybe you need a friend too,_ Tifa thought, the words on the tip of her tongue. But she couldn’t make the words come out when he was looking at her like she had the entire world on her shoulders. “Okay,” she got out instead. “Maybe you’ll keep one for yourself? Marlene might like to learn about the plants, too.”

A slow smile drifted over his face. It was a rare sight, but Tifa loved knowing she was the one to light him up like this, and not in anger. “Come on over, I’ll teach ya both about it.”

“It’s a date.” At the other end of the bar, another patron flagged her down. Tifa nodded at the man. “I have to go. We can talk more about plants later?”

“I’d like that.”

Her heart pounded in her chest as she went to tend to the other patron. She hadn’t known Barret long, and already she’d seen through that tough exterior he presented to the rest of the world. Yes, she knew he would fight against Shinra with every cell in his body, by any means necessary. Tifa wanted to fight, too.

But she liked this man beneath the armor, too. The one who loved his daughter and apparently knew how to grow plants. It was a skill so desperately needed here in the slums, and Tifa wanted to see what else Barret had to offer. Knowing he trusted her enough to be around his daughter too was a huge first step.

She didn’t quite know where this was going, but she wanted to see where it ended up. Perhaps their relationship would blossom and grow like the little plant in her coffee cup.

Only time, and attention, would tell.


End file.
